From a report in Variety: The Sci Fi Channel has given a fifth-season renewal to "Stargate Atlantis," commissioning 20 fresh episodes.

" 'Atlantis' truly came out from under the shadow of its sister series this year and proved that it's a hit in its own right," said Sci Fi's Mark Stern, exec veep of original programming. The show's predecessor, "Stargate SG-1," ran for 10 seasons on Sci Fi before completing its run last year. Continues...

F*ck yes!! I've been scrolling around the internet a couple of times each day to see if anything has been posted, why didn't I know just to stick here

That is a good thing, and a damn relief as well.

Also point number 2, which up until now has been pointless to discuss. The season finale will be the 100th episode. I get a feeling that's going to be a damn special episode and will wonder what they'll do for it. Shame they can't really take an episode off and do a 200 style one though being the finale. But still it should be a great episode!

This post has been edited by Invisible Painting: Oct 24th 2007, 9:22 AM

Sci fi wire has just confirmed the news as well. But for their own article on this they say suprisingly little on it. Just that they've done it and the fact that season 4's brought new cast in. They didn't even have the quotes THEY said

This post has been edited by Invisible Painting: Oct 24th 2007, 12:45 PM

I really wasn't expecting it to go ahead but given Sci-Fi's terrible shows lately, they need to keep some established shows around and Atlantis is their longest running. Maybe the future looks bright for Universe.

Wha? They've been 20 episodes long the whole way through, no more, no less. SG-1 was 22 eps a season for a while before it was cut down to 20 eps in S8, but it stayed constant after that too.

Revan's warped perception of time aside...this is great news! Kinda reminds me when we al thought SG-1 was finally due to finish around S6 & S7....and it kept getting itself renewed. You never know how far Atlantis will get in the end.

Wha? They've been 20 episodes long the whole way through, no more, no less. SG-1 was 22 eps a season for a while before it was cut down to 20 eps in S8, but it stayed constant after that too.

Revan's warped perception of time aside...this is great news! Kinda reminds me when we al thought SG-1 was finally due to finish around S6 & S7....and it kept getting itself renewed. You never know how far Atlantis will get in the end.

Well, I hope season 23 but knowing reality we probably won't get that far. Still season 5 is great news, I hope for as many as possible but to be honest season 5 existing means that SGA can have a proper run and can justify itself and make itself worthy as a show. Hopefully season 6 but I'm not even going to try and jump that gun given I'll probably get shot by it but a season 5 is great news. 36 new stories at least, oh yeah

I remember when we were saying "season 9, nice joke but seriously...". Let's just hope a similar situation happens here with a season 6. As well as universe....

This post has been edited by Invisible Painting: Oct 24th 2007, 8:56 PM

Wha? They've been 20 episodes long the whole way through, no more, no less. SG-1 was 22 eps a season for a while before it was cut down to 20 eps in S8, but it stayed constant after that too.

Revan's warped perception of time aside...this is great news! Kinda reminds me when we al thought SG-1 was finally due to finish around S6 & S7....and it kept getting itself renewed. You never know how far Atlantis will get in the end.

Well I meant that I remember DS9, which was always 26 episodes per season.

Well I meant that I remember DS9, which was always 26 episodes per season.

Even TNG had that, and they didn't usually have large story arcs.

Yeah, but episode length has also changed in that time. Old star treks used to be 50 mins long, now episodes of that type are 42 mins. Atlantis as you know was always 20 episodes but it was always because SG-1 was also going along side it. Now it's on it's own, well let's just say tradition is tradition I'd suppose...

Yeah, but episode length has also changed in that time. Old star treks used to be 50 mins long, now episodes of that type are 42 mins. Atlantis as you know was always 20 episodes but it was always because SG-1 was also going along side it. Now it's on it's own, well let's just say tradition is tradition I'd suppose...

Or because of the millions of dollars it costs to make a single episode.

oh thank god! in the name of mkcay sheppard and colonel carter (just a little joke lol)but wtf is sci-fi on when they say they have great programming other than maybe 2 series their usual line up is total crap!

Or because of the millions of dollars it costs to make a single episode.

Battlestar got 22. If SG-1 had a season 8 without Atlantis running it would have been a 22 ep series, the only reason it was brought down to twenty is because 40 eps is more feasable then 44. But now SG-1 has ended the only real reason is that it's just been that way and they are used to it. 2 episodes more isn't the hardest thing to pay for if you're already going with 20 and MGM pay for half of it.

QUOTE(lancelot2 @ Oct 25th 2007, 2:02 PM)

oh thank god! in the name of mkcay sheppard and colonel carter (just a little joke lol)but wtf is sci-fi on when they say they have great programming other than maybe 2 series their usual line up is total crap!

Yeah but they're not going to admit that And besides they always think their lineup is good enough though it rarely is.

I'm glad to hear this...I think the show can stand on its own, though I'm still not sure about the whole Carter thing in Atlantis. Actually, I didn't even finish watching Reunion...I got a little Zzzzzz, but I do understand that they're trying to establish her there. I say get back to the whole witty, snarky Zelenka, Shep, McKay triumvirate of egos - that's what makes the show.

Battlestar got 22. If SG-1 had a season 8 without Atlantis running it would have been a 22 ep series, the only reason it was brought down to twenty is because 40 eps is more feasable then 44. But now SG-1 has ended the only real reason is that it's just been that way and they are used to it. 2 episodes more isn't the hardest thing to pay for if you're already going with 20 and MGM pay for half of it.Yeah but they're not going to admit that And besides they always think their lineup is good enough though it rarely is.

I have to admit that this is unexpected, but good news. With the way the sci-fi channel has been doing business, I didn't expect them to greenlight a 5th season. But with BSG being gone after this season, and them cancelling good shows like Dresden Files, it's in their best interests to keep a good established show on the air.

No, because you're forgetting they always put loads of money and attention into new shows which don't work, so the public will probably view it that way but the network will be convinced they have about 6 sucessfull shows going at any one point

Them renewing Atlantis though was probably a smart move though (they're not going to lose money either way, just maybe not get as much as they were hoping for) but they need to keep some shows around. And I think the fact that none of their shows other then Eureka are actually getting higher then it is enough to keep it around. As I said I think they are realising they're not getting the 2.0 ratings anymore, and 1.4 (final rating for Adrift taking into account the DVR's which are also watching the adverts) is still higher then their other shows. So it's the networks second highest rated show atm. I think they're acknowledging that now.

But they need to come up with a strong lineup again, they just don't have one atm. Eureka shows at a different time of the year as their other shows, and Atlantis is their only other relatively sucessfull show. Sci fi friday's line up at the moment isn't sucessfull enough especially when comparred to the past...